


Always

by thatonemellark



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-08-16 11:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8100871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonemellark/pseuds/thatonemellark
Summary: A collection of gleggie drabbles. Open for requests about anything gleggie related.





	1. Sickness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Claire_Fucking_Dearing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claire_Fucking_Dearing/gifts).



> Written as a request from Horizontal Rainbows, hope you like it! Thanks for your awesome writing. I love requests, so feel free to send one in for me!

The birth of baby Hershel had gone so smoothly that no one expected anything to happen. But it did. When the baby was a week old, Maggie collapsed to the ground. 

The day had started as usual. He woke up to the sound of his wife’s voice, cooing to their newborn. He noticed she looked a little paler than normal, but didn't think anything of it. He rolled out of bed and walked behind his wife and took her into his arms. He placed a kiss to her temple, noting that she felt a little cool. 

“Good morning.” She smiled and turned her head to peck his lips. He reached his hand around her and stroked his son’s fine hair. When they sat down with their family for breakfast, Carol immediately took the baby from his wife’s arms and placed kisses on his tiny face. He noticed Maggie was pushing her breakfast around her plate. 

“Babe, aren’t you hungry?” He brushes some hair out of her eyes as she shakes her head. 

“Not really. I’m not feeling too great.” 

“You’re looking a little pale.” Denise comments from her spot beside Tara, “I can look you over after breakfast.” 

Maggie nods and then pushes herself up from her chair, “I need some water.” 

Glenn watches as she walks into the kitchen and gets herself a glass of water. He notices that she was starting to look extremely pale as she made her way back to the table, glass in hand. He’s about to stand up and help her when she collapses to the floor, the glass of water shattering against the ground. 

He doesn’t remember screaming her name or leaping out of his chair to run to her. Michonne reaches her first and gently rolls her onto her back. She places her fingers to her neck. 

“I can’t find a pulse.” 

His heart stops. He’s faintly aware of his son crying in the background, safely tucked in Carol’s arms. He feels Daryl holding him back as Denise and Rosita crowd his wife. 

He sees Denise feel for a pulse, “No, she has one. It’s really faint but it’s there.” 

He frantically wipes the tears streaming down his face, “What’s wrong with her? Maggie!” 

“Abe, I need you to carry her to her room! Tara, run to the infirmary, grab an IV set, a bag of saline, gauze, and my med bag! Now!” 

“Wait! What’s wrong with her? Please!” He pulls against Daryl’s grip as Abraham lifts his wife off the ground. 

“Aw, shit!” He hears Abe exclaim, “She’s bleeding all over me.” 

His heart drops when he sees a puddle of bright red blood on the white tile floor. Her pale legs have fresh blood dripping down them and he sees the inseams of her pants are saturated with it. 

He feels Daryl wrap his arms around his chest and pull him back, “Man, you gotta calm down. Let Denise work. Man!” 

He struggles against his grip as Abraham carries his unconscious wife up the stairs. 

“Maggie!! Maggie!!” 

He doesn’t even register the sound of his son, wailing for his parents to comfort him. 

 

He sits beside his unconscious wife, hours later, gently clutching her cold, pale hand. His family stands around the room, watching as Denise takes her pulse. 

“It’s late postpartum hemorrhage, brought on by an infection in her uterus from the birth. I’ve started her on IV antibiotics and fluids. I think I was able to stop the bleeding, but she lost a lot of blood.” 

Glenn feels his tears falling down his face, “Is she going to wake up?” 

“I don’t know.” 

He bends down and places his forehead against her chest. He allows the sobs to overtake his body as he mourns for his wife. He feels Michonne wrap her arms around him, but he’s too wrapped up in his pain to care. 

Carol cradles Hershel to her chest. He’s starting to get fussy and begins to whimper. She gently rocks the newborn and walks past the child’s mourning father to get out to the hall. She nods at Rick to get him to follow her. 

Once in the hall, she whispers to him. 

“Do we have any of Judith’s formula left? Hershel’s getting hungry, and Glenn is obviously too preoccupied to notice.” Rick nods and takes the baby from Carol. 

“I think we might. You stay here, just in case they need you.” She nods as Rick turns to head downstairs with the baby. 

“Hey little man, it’s alright. We’re gonna find you some breakfast.” 

Days pass and he refuses to leave his wife’s side. Michonne has taken a permanent spot in the corner of the room, watching them intensely. He eyes the small knife resting on her hip. He knows why she’s there. He knows what she’s watching for, but he refuses to think about it. 

Denise comes in every hour to check on her and hangs new fluids and antibiotics when needed. He lets himself hope that she’s getting better, that her skin is getting brighter and warmer, but he can’t tell if it’s actually happening or if he is making it up. 

On the morning of the 3rd day, Rick comes in to the room, carrying Baby Hershel. 

“Someone has been missing his daddy.” He offers him his son, but Glenn just runs his hands over his face and sighs. 

“I can’t right now, Rick.” 

“Hey, I know this is hard, but this isn’t just about you anymore. Your son needs you, Glenn. This little boy needs his daddy to be there for him, regardless of what happens to his mommy.” 

Rick places his son into his arms. He looks down at the tiny being in his arms, one that he created with his beautiful wife. He clutches his child to his chest and takes a deep breath. Rick squeezes his shoulder and then walks out of the room, nodding to Michonne as he leaves.

Glenn crawls onto the bed beside Maggie, careful not to disturb her IV line. He places the baby in-between them and talks to her.

“Hershel’s here, babe. He’s here to see his mommy. He misses you. We both miss you.” 

He reaches out a hand and strokes her cheek. 

“Come back to us, baby. Please. We need you.” 

The baby coos, staring at the ceiling while sucking on his tiny hand. Glenn drifts off to sleep, desperately praying for a miracle. 

When he wakes, it’s to the sound of his wife’s voice. He hears her softly talking to their baby, and he hates himself for dreaming of her voice, when his eyes suddenly fly open. He pushes himself out of bed. He hadn’t imagined it. 

His wife– his beautiful, wonderful Maggie– sat propped up against the headboard with the baby nursing in her arms. She was still pale, but she had a smile on her face. 

“Maggie, you’re okay.” 

She smiles at him, “We’re okay.” 

He pulls her into her arms, ignoring the cry of annoyance his son lets out due to having his meal disturbed. He pulls his wife and son into his embrace and begins to sob. 

“I thought we lost you.” 

“I’m always with you.” She replies, pulling away from his embrace to kiss him. He pulls her back to lean against his chest and he wraps his arms around his family. Maggie rests her head back on his shoulder. 

“I love you.” She whispers. 

“I love you.” He kisses her temple and cuddles his family close to him.


	2. Telling the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by peddieandsibunalover, hope you like it!

“I don't know about this, Glenn. We were crazy to actually think that this would work out fine.” 

Maggie paces frantically in their bedroom. Glenn watches her from his place on their bed.

“Mags, what’s the worst they’re gonna do? It’s already done. The baby is made. We can’t undo it, even if we wanted too.” 

She sighs, “I know, and I’m happy about the baby, but what if they aren’t supportive? What if they make us leave? I mean, we barely have enough food as it is.” 

She runs her hand through her hair as she keeps pacing. Glenn stands up and grabs her waist to make her stop.

“Babe, you’re being ridiculous. They aren’t going to make us leave. They’d never do that. You know that.” 

“I know.” 

“Then just calm down. Everything is going to be okay. Everyone will love this baby.” 

Glenn pulls her close to him and she snuggles into his chest. 

“I know. I’m just nervous about telling them. This is life changing. For all of us.” 

She wraps her arms tighter around her husband. He hums in content as he buries his face in her hair. 

“It is. But it’s a good change. This baby is proof that life is still happening. It’s proof that we are meant to go on and to keep fighting. This baby is our hope and our future and it’s going to be so loved and protected by our whole family.” 

She pulls out of his embrace and kisses him. He places his hand on her still flat stomach. 

“I love you. Both of you.”

“We love you too.” She smiles at him. He’s going to be an amazing father. 

“Let’s go tell them about our baby.” Glenn offers her his hand. 

She grabs it and places a kiss to his fingers, “Let’s do it.” 

They send each other glances through out dinner. It’s a noisy affair, as always, with Judith gabbing away in her baby talk and everyone else trying to talk over each other. The perfect moment finally comes when Carol brings out dessert and everyone is silently munching on the delicious cookies. 

Glenn sets his cookie down and clears his throat, “So, uh, guys.”

Everyone turns to look at him. He reaches over and grabs her hand, “We have something to tell you.”

He nods to her, encouraging her to share their news. She beams at him before turning to her family. 

“Glenn and I are having a baby!” She blurts out. She watches her family’s reactions. 

Tara shoots out of her seat and starts fist pumping and screaming, “YES! I KNEW IT!!”

Carol, Rosita and Michonne run over to her and wrapped her in a hug, all the while beginning to cry tears of joy. 

She sees the men gather around Glenn. Rick pulls him into a hug and Daryl pats his shoulder. Abe ruffles his hair while congratulating him.

“Atta boy! Knew you had it in you!” 

It isn’t long before the guys come over to her. Rick pulls her into a tight hug and holds her, whispering his congratulations to her and telling her how proud he is.

“Hershel would be so proud of you.” He wipes away a tear that she hadn’t even realized had fallen. 

“We’re so happy for you. For both of you.” 

Glenn pulls her into a hug, “We’re so excited. We can’t wait to meet him or her.” 

“I think this calls for a little something special.” Abraham says as he pulls out a bottle of liquor, “Sorry Mags, none for you!” 

He pours some into everyone’s glasses and then raises his cup. 

“To Maggie and Glenn! And to that future little one that is bound to be nothing but trouble!” 

“I can toast to that!”

“Here here!” 

Abraham hits his glass off the table and then downs his shot. Everyone else follows suit, while Maggie sips her water. 

“You two are gonna be kick ass parents.” Carl says. Everyone nods in agreement. 

“I pity the person who dares to mess with that kid.” Rick laughs. 

Maggie nods, “Especially because he’ll have this huge, crazy family to protect him.”

“You think it's a boy?” Carol asks.

She nods, “Yeah. I just have this feeling.” 

“You best be keeping him away from Lil’ Ass Kicker.” Daryl rocks the little girl in his lap. She giggles at her Uncle Daryl. 

“Might be a Rhee-Grimes wedding in our future!” Michonne jokes. Maggie laughs at the appalled faces made by Rick, Daryl and Carl. 

“We can be in-laws!” Glenn laughs, nudging Rick. Rick shoots him a look and gathers Judith into his arms. 

She leans over and rests her head on Glenn’s shoulder. She feels a wave of peace go over her. They were all safe, they had full bellies and everyone was ecstatic about her child. 

In this moment, she couldn't be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any request welcome!!!


	3. Misery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not a request, just a drabble i wrote on tumblr

Maggie was miserable. From what she can calculate, she was a week past her due date. She was fat and cranky and she hasn’t seen her feet since she hit the 5 month mark. She was sick of waddling (yes, waddling) around Alexandria and she was sick of the grins people sent her way when they watched her attempt to get down stairs or tie her boots or try to get up from a chair. She was tired of the “Are you sure there is only one in there?” comments that the guys threw at her and if one more person put their hands on her belly, she was going to scream.

Most importantly, she was sick of Glenn hovering. Any move she made had him running to her. Last night, she threw the covers off because she was too hot and he shot out of bed, asking her what was wrong. He hovered over her constantly and she was ready to snap. 

“Maggie, are you okay?”

Speak of the devil. 

She turned around to see Glenn walking towards the pond where she was sitting, dangling her swollen feet into the cool water. 

“I’m fine, Glenn. Just soakin’ my feet.“ 

“Okay, well, you need to let me know where you are going. I turned around and you were just gone. What if something had happened?”

Maggie rolled her eyes, “Seriously? You just saw me two minutes ago. And I passed probably 15 people to get here. If something where to have happened, I would have been fine.“ 

She knew she was right. Even now, with Glenn sitting next to her, she can see Carol watching her from their front porch, Aaron is at the garden picking vegetables, but he looks up at her every few minutes as if to make sure she wasn’t pushing that baby out right that second, and she can see Rick and Michonne monitoring her from where they walk, with Judith in-between them, holding their hands and toddling around. Even Daryl stared at her from his place on the curb where he was fixing his bike as she waddle by. It’s as if they are all waiting on her to burst. 

“Sorry. I just worry. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Or the baby.” 

Glenn placed his hand on her shoulder, to which she shrugged off. She can’t stand being touched right now. She doesn’t miss the way his face falls when she brushes off his hand.

She sighs and reaches over to cup his cheek, “I’m sorry. I’m just so miserable right now. My back hurts so bad and I can barely walk. My feet are so sore and swollen and the water looked so refreshing. I couldn’t resist. I should have told you where I was going.”

Glenn puts his arm around her shoulders and lets her rest her head on him, “I know you’re miserable, Mags. I wish I could take all of it away from you. But I can’t. But you’re doing something incredible. You’re helping our baby grow and keeping him or her safe until we get to meet them. Doesn’t that make it all worth it in the end?”

“I know. I’m just so irritable and cranky. We’ve tried everything to get this baby to come but he won’t leave. He’s just too damn stubborn.”

Glenn snorts, “Well, look at who his mother is." 

Maggie whacked Glenn on the shoulder.

"I’m sorry, I was just kidding.” Glenn placed a kiss on her forehead, “Seriously though, we need to start thinking of a name. He or she will be here any day now.”

Maggie let out a little gasp, “I don’t think we can do that right now.”

“Why not? It’s the perfect time. It’s a beautiful day and I don’t have guard duty for another 3 hours.”

“No Glenn, we can’t. My water just broke. It’s time." 

Glenn’s eyes widened. He shot up and immediately started yelling, "IT’S TIME!!! IT’S TIME!!!!" 

Maggie groaned as she watched her whole family, all 12 of them, come running down the hill, screaming about how it’s time and about how someone needs to grab blankets and for the love of God, there’s Abraham, shouting about how its time to have pancakes. 

Yup, Maggie was miserable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moving all my drabbles from tumblr to here. Please send requests my way!!

Hershel was scared. He sat hidden in the living room, wedged against the wall and the back of the couch. The living room is dark and gray and rain is beginning to fall outside. Upstairs, he could hear his mommy crying in pain. He had tried to go up to see her, but when he opened his parents bedroom door, he heard a snippet of conversation.

“She’s been in labor for 36 hours, this isn’t natural. Can’t you do something?” His daddy had said.

The doctor from Hilltop responded to his daddy, “What do you want me to do? We either let natural take its course, or we can do a C-section.”

“No!” Hershel jumped. His daddy never yelled. “You’re not doing that to her. Over my dead body. That will kill her.“ 

Hershel could see the doctor rub his face in distress.

"You might not have a choice, if she doesn’t make any progress, we’ll have to get that baby out, and a C-section is the only way. It’ll be tricky, but I think I can do it. If that baby isn’t here by tonight, then I’m doing it.”

Hershel had never seen his daddy so mad. He looked like he was about to punch the doctor, when his mommy let out a really loud groan. Daddy went over to her side and placed a washcloth on her head. His mommy was pale and sweaty. She opened her eyes and looked at him, but she didn’t smile like she usually did. She didn’t open her arms and try to snuggle with him. Instead, she called to daddy.

“Glenn, get Hershel out.”

Daddy looked up at him, then walked over to him.

“Buddy, go downstairs. Go play.”

“But I wanna see mommy." 

"Mommy’s busy, just go downstairs!” And with that, his daddy gently pushed him out of the room and shut the door. 

This was how he ended up hiding behind the couch. He was mad that his mommy and daddy didn’t want to play with him and he was sad because he didn’t know what was wrong with his mommy. 

He kept thinking back to what his daddy said, “That will kill her.”

He knew all about death and dying. His whole family had explained the world to him. He knew that if mommy was killed, then she wouldn’t be here to play with him anymore. He doesn’t want mommy to be killed.

He tries to stop the tears from falling. He tries to be a big boy, like Carl, but he can’t be brave. The tears welling in his eyes begin to fall in a steady stream down his face as he hears his mommy let out another cry of pain. 

“Bruno, I’m scared,” Hershel said to his favorite stuffed elephant. His Aunty Tara named him Bruno, after some singer from Mars, he thinks. He’s had him since he was a baby, and never goes anywhere without him. He is his best friend.

“I don’t want mommy to die.” He sobs. He hugs Bruno tightly to his chest. He quickly tries to quiet his crying as he hears the front door open. Lots of footsteps come into the living room. His family is home for lunch, he thinks. 

“Damn, is Maggie still in labor?” He hears Rosita ask, “How long’s it been?”

“36 hours, give or take.” Michonne answers. 

“Poor girl. Don’t even have any medicine to give her to speed it up.” He hears Carol say.

“I can make a run, see what I can find.” His Uncle Daryl says.

“No. There’s a storm coming. We can’t risk someone being caught out there.” Rick says. Hershel knows no one will go out now. What Rick says goes. His mommy told him to always do what Rick says.

“Is Doc going to do a dissection on her?” Abraham asks.

“Be quiet, Abraham,” Sasha says, “And we don’t know. He just told us to stay within shouting distance in case he needs help.” 

“Where’s little man at?” Uncle Daryl says. Part of him wants to run to his uncle and jump into his arms to be snuggled, but another part of him is still to scared to move. 

“I don’t know,” He hears Enid say.“ We tried to get him to come out and play   
with us and Judith, but he said he wanted to stay inside. He was coloring at the table just a little bit ago when we checked on him." 

"Daddy, what’s wrong with Maggie?” Judith asks.

“Maggie’s having her baby. Remember how I told you she would have to stay upstairs for a while, and then she’ll have a baby boy or girl.”

He hears his mommy let out a scream and he covers his ears.

“Ow, that sounded like a bad one.” He hears Aunty Tara say.

He can’t help the little sob that escapes him. The room gets silent. He sees a shadow fall over him and looks up to see his Uncle Daryl looking over the back of the couch at him.

“Hey little man. What are you doing back there?” He reaches down and easily picks him up and places him on his hip. Uncle Daryl wipes the tears falling from his eyes, but they’re quickly replaced by more. 

“Mommy’s dying!” Hershel breaks down. He wraps his arms around his Uncle’s neck and buries his face into it. 

“Hey little man, hey. Stop the water works. Your mom ain’t dying. Okay? Your mom is a tough son of a bitch, and so are you. So calm down." 

"Daryl, let me. Tara, why don’t you go sit with Maggie and give Glenn a break. Have him come down here.” He feels himself transferred to someone else arms and peeks up to see who is holding him. Carol has him, and is rubbing her hand up and down his back.

“Hershel. Buddy, shhh. It’s okay. Your mommy is strong. She is going to do her best to survive, like always." 

"Yeah Hershel, your mom is so tough. She saved my life many times.” He hears Rosita say. The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs puts him on alert. He knows the sound of his daddy’s walk anywhere. 

“How is she?" 

Hershel keeps his face buried in Carol’s neck, but he listens intently. 

"Completely exhausted. She keeps trying to sleep, but the contractions are so close together that anytime she starts to drift off, she has another one. Doc says that she isn’t dilating anymore. He wants to give it a few more hours to see if her body will start working right but he said if the baby isn’t here by tonight, he’s doing a C-section on her." 

The room is silent, except for Judith who is coloring in the kitchen, and that scares Hershel even more. He tightens his grip around Carol. 

"Buddy.” He feels his daddy standing behind him. Carol tries to hand him to him, but he locks his arms around her neck.

“Buddy, I’m sorry I yelled. I didn’t mean to be cross with you.” He feels his daddy’s hand on his back, “Come on, little guy, I need you. I could really use a Hershel Hug right now." 

"Little man’s worried that Maggie’s gonna die.” Uncle Daryl says. He hears his dad let out a sigh.

“Hershel, come here.” Reluctantly, Hershel leans over into his daddy’s arms, “Look at me.”

He looks up at his daddy. He looks so tired and he isn’t smiling, like he usually is.

“I can’t tell you that Mommy won’t die. Because she will. And so will I, and Uncle Daryl, and Aunty Tara, and Michonne and Carol and Carl. All of us. We will all die at some point. That’s just the way life is." 

His daddy gently brushes away his tears, "But you have got to be brave and strong. Okay? You’re gonna be a big brother soon. You’ll have a baby brother or sister to protect. Mommy is tough. She’ll do her best to survive, just like we all do.”

Hershel nods and rests his head on his daddy’s shoulders.   
“I love you, buddy.”

“I love you too, daddy.” 

“I’ve got to stay with mommy for a while, so I need you to be a brave boy. Do what you’re told and try not to worry, okay?”  
“Okay.”

His daddy placed a kiss on his head and then lifted him upside down, over his head. He placed a bunch of kisses on his belly, and Hershel can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out.

“You be a good boy, okay?” He says as he hands him back to Carol. Hershel nods, and watches as his daddy heads back upstairs.

“Give Maggie our love.” Michonne says. 

Once Glenn disappears upstairs, Eugene steps forward and takes him from Carol’s arms, “I have an idea. Let’s get the little guy’s mind off of the situation. Why don’t you and I have our reading lesson while lunch is being prepared. That sound like an idea?" 

After his reading lesson with Eugene, Hershel ate lunch with his family. Carl made him laugh by sticking two chicken bones in his top lip and pretending to be a walrus, like the ones in his picture books he read with Eugene. 

After lunch, Carol pulled him aside and told him she could really use his help making cookies. He spent the next few hours carefully pouring the ingredients into a bowl and stirring the dough. 

"You are doing such a good job, Hershel. Pretty soon, you’ll have my job!” Carol ruffled his hair and placed a kiss on his head. 

After that, the storm had finally passed, so he went outside with his Uncle Daryl and Abraham to watch them shoot Uncle Daryl’s crossbow. 

“Wanna try, little man?” Hershel nodded and stepped forward. He handed Bruno to Abraham (“Don’t drop him!”) and stood in front of his uncle. Uncle Daryl kneeled down behind him. He helped him hold the crossbow and placed his hands in the right spots.

“Okay, little man. Put one hand here, and the other here. Now, you see that little circle, right there in the center. You want to line that up with your target. Where you aiming at?”

“At that green sack, right there." 

Daryl helped him line up the sight with the sack of dirt. 

"Okay, now, once you’re ready, you gotta squeeze the trigger.”

Hershel tried to squeeze the trigger, “I can’t. It’s too hard." 

"Hold on now, I’ll help you. You just worry about aiming right.”

Daryl covered his finger with his large one, “You ready? On three. One, two, three.”

Together, they pulled the trigger. The arrow shot out and hit the green sack.   
“I hit it!!!" 

Daryl picked him up and tossed him in the air, "Alright, little man!!”

“Good job, buddy.” Abraham patted his back. 

“Wow!” He looked up to see Sasha walking towards them.

“Sasha, Sasha!! Did you see? I hit it!!”

“I did see! That was great!" 

"I wish my mommy and daddy were here!”

“Don’t worry, we can show them soon. I’m proud of you buddy. You’re gonna be a great little hell raiser, ain’t ya?" 

After that, Carl, Enid and Judith told him they were going to catch frogs and crayfish. He followed them down to the pond. He held Enid’s hand as they waded into the water. 

"You gotta walk real careful now. You don’t want to scare them." 

Carl and Judith were a bit a ways from them, holding onto nets.

"What do we got to do, Enid?” Hershel gripped her hand tighter as he tried to walk, but he kept stumbling over rocks. 

“When Carl and Judith are ready, we’re gonna splash as much water as we can towards them, then they’re gonna try to catch them with the net." 

Once Carl gave the word, him and Enid splashed and kicked as much water as they could. It was so much fun. All four of them were drenched and soaking wet by the time Judith held her net up.

"Look guys! I got a crayfish.” Judith held out her net to her brother. Carl reached in and picked it up. 

“Look at that!” He put it in a bucket. As Hershel and Judith stared into the bucket, he heard Carl murmur to Enid about there not being enough to eat, that they’ll probably have to go outside the walls to catch more. 

Judith looks up at her brother, “We can’t eat him!”

“Judith, he’s not a pet." 

As always, Carl and Judith start a fight over whether or not they can eat what they catch. Enid grabs his hand, "Come on, bud. Let’s get you cleaned up for dinner." 

Back at the house, Enid gives him a bath and puts him in his pajamas early. The storms are coming back, he thinks, as he looks out the living room window. Bruno is in his arms, as always. He was coloring with Judith, but he got bored of that quickly. Carol and Rosita are making dinner, while everyone else is playing a card game in the living room. He walks over to Rick, who quickly pulls him into his lap and places a kiss on his cheek. 

"You gonna help me win, buddy?” Hershel nod. They play cards for 20 more minutes. Rick even lets him hold his deck and place the cards on the table when it was their turn. The game is stopped when the see the doctor walking down the stairs. Everyone stares at him. 

“Well, nature’s working for her. She finally started to dilate again. She’s comfortable right now. Her, Glenn and Tara are all resting. I felt it was safe enough to slip away and grab something to eat." 

"Hear that, Hershel?” Rick whispers in his ear, “Your mommy’s doing just fine." 

After dinner, everyone is back in the living room having quiet time. Many of his family are reading, while some are coloring with Judith and others are writing. Hershel is sitting in Michonne’s lap, playing with her hair.   
Everyone looks up from what they are doing when they hear his mommy let out a groan that is followed by a baby’s cry. 

His family starts to cheer. 

"Alright!!”

“Finally!!”

“Do you hear that, sweetie?” Michonne whispers to him, “That’s your baby brother or sister. You’re a big brother!”

Carl pats him on the back, “Congrats, man! Being a big brother is the best!"   
His family all congratulate him on being a big brother. He can’t help the smile on his face. 

After a few minutes, the doctor comes down the stairs with Aunty Tara. They are both smiling. 

The doctor puts his hands up to silence the questions flooding towards him, "Mom and baby are both fine. Now, if you will excuse me, I haven’t sleep in almost 48 hours. I’m going to get some rest. Someone come get me if something happens." 

Aunty Tara comes over to him and picks him up, "Hey bud! You’re a big brother now!" 

"Is my mommy okay?” He asks her.

She places a kiss on his forehead, “She is buddy. Your daddy’s gonna come down to get you soon. And don’t any of you bother asking. I’m not telling you if it is a boy or a girl.”

Hershel laughs as his family starts to argue. He can hear Abraham say something about it being the last chance to state your bet. 

“What do you think, man?” Abraham asks him, “You got a little brother or a little sister?" 

"Hmmmm,” Everyone stares at him as he thinks, "Bruno says a sister!“ 

"The elephant has spoken!” Enid says. The laughter and chatter dies down when his daddy comes down the stairs with a huge grin on his face. Hershel immediately wiggles out of Tara’s arms and runs to him.

“Daddy!!" 

"Hey buddy!” His daddy picks him up and hugs him close, “Do you want to come and meet your baby sister?" 

Hershel nods as he hears his family start cheering. He even hears Abraham exclaim, "Bitch nuts!! I lost!!!" 

His daddy laughs as he carries him up the stairs, "Serves you right for betting on my family." 

As the walk down the hall, his daddy tells him how important it is to be quiet. He slowly opens the door. 

"Hi mommy.” His daddy says, “Big brother is here to meet his new sister."   
Hershel shyly looks at his mommy. She is resting against a stack of pillows, her hair is tied up on the top of her head. She is holding one of Judith’s dolls in her arms.

"Hi love." 

Daddy places him on the bed and he crawls next to her. She gives him a kiss and when he leans up, he sees that she isn’t holding one of Judith’s dolls, but a real baby.

"This is Meredith, your baby sister." 

Daddy sits behind him and puts his arm around his mommy’s shoulders.   
"She’s tiny!” Hershel exclaimed. 

“She is. And you have to be extra gentle with her.”

Hershel continued to stare at his sister. She had dark hair and eyes like him and daddy, but where his eyes are green, like mommy’s, hers are brown. 

“What do you think, buddy?" 

Hershel sits up straight and looks at his parents, "Don’t worry. I’ll protect her and make sure she is always safe. I’ll be brave and strong and I’ll always save her." 

He notices mommy is starting to cry, so he leans up and kisses her cheek.   
"I promise, I’ll keep her safe.”

“I know you will, buddy.” His daddy kisses him. Hershel smiles at both his parents, then leans over his mommy and places a gentle kiss on his sister’s forehead.

“I love you, sissy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still posting my old drabble from tumblr, requests will be up soon!

The sound of quiet whimpers caused Maggie to wake from her sleep. She pushed herself up from bed. The sun was barely up, the light coming through the curtains filling the room with a grayish tinge that only the light of early dawn brings. Glenn’s side of the bed was empty, as he had volunteered to take Sasha’s graveyard shift in the watchtower since she came down with the flu.

The whimpers from across the room continued, so she threw back her covers and walked the short distance to the crib that sat against the far wall. Inside, her three-day-old daughter lay. Her eyes were open and she stared at the mobile above her. She had her tiny fingers in her mouth; a sign that Carol had told her that meant she was starting to get hungry. 

Her little hat had fallen off during the night, revealing her hair, which is as black as her brother’s and father’s. As Maggie approached the crib, her dark eyes (exact replicas of her father’s eyes) tried to focus on her mother as she continued to whimper about her hunger. 

“Oh sweet girl. Sweet Meredith,” Maggie said as she reached into the crib to pick up the infant, “Are you hungry?“ 

Glenn had chosen his daughter’s name. Meredith Bethany. He had chosen the name Meredith after his oldest sister. Growing up with 4 older sisters had resulted in him being teased a lot, but his oldest sister, Meredith, was always kind and patient with him. When he shyly approached her and asked if the baby could be named after his favorite sister, she couldn’t say no. 

She gently rocked her baby as she walked back to her bed. She sat down and gave the newborn access to her breast, allowing her to fulfill her hunger. 

As she fed her daughter, she caught the door slowly opening and looked up to see her son peeking in. Four-year-old Hershel walked in and quietly stood next to her bed. His old, ragged stuffed elephant was gripped tightly in his arms as he watched his mom and sister.

"Mama, what’s sissy doing?” Maggie smiled at her son.

“Sissy’s eating breakfast, baby." 

Hershel watched his sister for a few more minutes, climbed into Glenn’s spot on the bed. His little dinosaur pajamas were skewed from sleep, with one pant leg pushed up to his knee. She pulled the pant leg down with her free hand, and then tried to brush through his hair.

"You’ve got some really bad bedhead, dude.” Maggie couldn’t help but smile at her son’s appearance. He always managed to wake up with his hair going in every direction. Hershel snuggled up into her side, then placed his little hand on his sister’s tiny head. 

“Mama, when can sissy play with me?" 

"Not for a while. She needs time to grow and become a big girl, then she can play with you and Judith." 

"She can play Walkers with us!” Hershel looks up at her, his green eyes (her eyes) shining with delight. Walkers, a game invented by 6 year old Judith, involved one person (Usually Hershel, since he is the youngest) being the walker and the other (usually Judith, because “6 is much older than 4”) being the living. It essentially was just a game of glorified tag. When she first witnessed Hershel playing it, she got upset at the idea of her son already being exposed to the world, but Rick explained that it was a good thing. It prepared them for the world outside Alexandria and taught them basic survival skills.

Maggie can see Hershel’s eyes light up at the prospect of having someone younger than him to be the walker. The only time he got to be the living was when Carl played with them and volunteered to be the walker. She remembered one night, where Carl was the walker. He ‘bit’ Enid and before anyone knew it, it had turned into a town wide game, with everyone in Alexandria running around and trying to ‘bite’ each other. She still remembers the way Abraham threw Hershel and Judith over his shoulders as he pretended to 'eat’ them. Their shrieks of laughter had her smiling so big. Glenn ended up being the last living, and had the whole town of Alexandria chasing after him. Everyone backed off after a bit and let Hershel tackle his father. She chuckled at the memory and then placed a kiss on his head.

“Meredith won’t be able to play that for a while.” Hershel looked up at her then let out a little sigh. 

“Like next week?" 

She laughed, "No baby, she needs a few years so she can grow big and strong, just like her big brother." 

She feels her daughter’s tiny hand gently patting her chest and slips her finger into her little palm. Meredith grips it tightly as she continues to eat. 

"Mama, when’s daddy coming home?" 

She glances over at the clock on her nightstand, "In about an hour, little goose.” She watches him crinkle his nose at his nickname, given to him by Carol. When he was a toddler, he would always wander off. The first time he did it, her whole family went into a panic, but he was found sitting outside the goose pen, watching them peck the dirt and honk. Every time he got the chance, he would toddle off to the goose pen and could be found sitting in front of them, watching. After about the 8th time of being found there, Carol picked him up and exclaimed that she had found 'the little goose’. The name had stuck. 

“Is daddy gonna sleep all day?” Hershel asked her. She could tell he was already making plans of what to do with his daddy when he got home.

“He’s gonna sleep for a little while. He was up all night keeping us safe, and now he needs to sleep." 

"Sissy sleeps a lot too.” He said. He reaches out and touches her hand with his little finger. 

“Speaking of sleep, why aren’t you still asleep, little goose?" 

Hershel smiles up at her, "I wanted snuggle time with you. We haven’t got to in a long time.”

Maggie can’t help the pang of guilt that runs through her. Ever since Hershel was a newborn, she always spent an hour or so before bedtime to have snuggle time with him. But once she hit 7 months pregnant with Meredith, she was too large to do anything comfortably, and so snuggle time was passed on to Glenn. 

“Well, how about once sissy is done eating, you, me and her can have snuggle time until daddy gets back?" 

Hershel nods his head and clutches his stuffed elephant to his chest. When the baby finishes eating, she quickly burps her, scoots to the middle of the bed. She places Meredith on her left side, and then places her pillow along the baby’s side to prevent her from rolling out of the bed. She steals Glenn’s pillow to lie on and allows Hershel to cuddle his tiny body into her right side. He places his head on her shoulder and she wraps her arm around him. 

"I love you, little goose.”

“I love you too, mama. And I love sissy." 

She places a kiss on his forehead as he closes his eyes, already drifting off to sleep. She reaches out her left hand and gently grabs hold of Meredith’s tiny hand. She feels so calm and content, surrounded by her children. These two little beings who give her life meaning and give her a reason to get out of bed in the morning. She smiles as she watches her babies sleep, then feels herself drifting off to join them in their slumber. 

A short time later she feels the bed dip and hears soft murmuring. She cracks an eye open. The room is significantly brighter. In the glowing sunlight, she sees her husband lying next to her, his tiny daughter cradled to his chest. He whispers quietly to her and gently rubs his large hand over her tiny back.   
Maggie rolls over onto her side, facing Glenn. 

"How was night watch?” She whispers, mindful of her sleeping children.

“Uneventful.” He glances down at their son before looking up at her. There is so much love and happiness in his eyes. 

“You are so beautiful,” He states, “and you gave me two beautiful children."   
She smiles, then leans over Hershel to place a kiss on his lips. 

Hershel startles awake and quickly sits up, "Mama?" 

Glenn shushes him, "Shh, go back to sleep, little buddy." 

Hershel looks over at his daddy and grins, before lying back down. He turns and snuggles into his daddy’s side. Glenn wraps his arm around his son and pulls her into his embrace. She curls up into her son’s back and her husband’s side, and places her hand on her daughter who is sleeping on her daddy’s chest. Everyone begins to fall into a restful slumber.

And in that moment, lying in bed with her husband and her children, she feels at peace with the world.


	6. What's in a Name?

Glenn walked into the kitchen with a bounce in his step. Despite the early morning, his whole family was up and eating breakfast already, save for Carl, who was beginning to enter the ‘sleep past noon’ phase that all teenagers went through. He took a seat at the table, and scooped some grits, eggs and fruit onto his plate. He could see his family looking at him and grinning. 

“What?” He asked as he poured himself some milk (Hilltop really came through for them). 

“Nothing,” Michonne said, “Just that you have the biggest grin on your face that I have ever seen.“

He felt his grin grow wider. He couldn’t help himself. 

"I’m assuming the first night went well then, Dad?” Carol asks. Glenn can feel his grin grow even larger. Last night was his son’s first official night in the world. 

“I don’t even think I heard him crying at all. How many times did he wake up?” Tara asks. 

“He was up most of the night. But he’s such a good baby. He never cried. When he would wake up, he just sort of whimpered, and he mostly woke up just to eat, then he would fall straight back to sleep. He was up at about 5 this morning and Maggie fed him and then they both fell asleep and are still sleeping.” Glenn took a bite of his breakfast. He felt exhausted, but the joy he felt easily overshadowed it. 

“At least this kid knows how to be quiet. Don’t ya’ll remember how Lil’ Ass Kicker would scream her head off all night?” Daryl said from the end of the table, his mouth full of food. Everyone who was together at the prison shuddered. Judith had colic so bad as a baby that she spent almost every night awake, her screams echoing through the cold concrete of the prison. 

Rick chuckles and rubs his hand over Judith’s curls, “At least she grew out of it." 

Everyone continued to eat or in Judith’s case, smear grits on her face, making small talk and discussing their plans for the day. 

"Well, there’s mom!” Sasha exclaims. Glenn turns in his chair to see his wife - his extraordinarily beautiful wife- walking slowly towards the table, his son cradled in her arms. He quickly shoots out of his chair and helps guide her into her chair. She winces as she sits. 

“Maggie, you shouldn’t have come down, I was going to bring you breakfast in a few." 

Maggie waves him off, "It’s fine, I wanted to come down." 

"You at least should have waited until I could help you downstairs.” He places a kiss on her head and then begins to make a plate for her. 

“How’re you feeling?” Michonne asks.

“Really sore, but never better.” She stares at their child. His son is nestled in her arms, fast asleep. She gently brushes her fingers over his black hair.

“Here babe,” Glenn places a plate in front of her, “Eat." 

"Okay,” She replies, but makes no move to grab her fork. She’s too busy staring at their baby. 

Glenn smiles and leans over to gently touch his son’s cheek, “I can hold him while you eat." 

"No, I’ve got him.” She pulls his tiny body closer to hers. Glenn looks around the table. All the women are staring at the baby. He can tell they are all eager to get their hands on him. 

“Mags, I think his aunt’s want to hold him. You need to eat, your food is getting cold.” Glenn moves to gently take the baby from her. He can feel her hesitate, her grip momentarily tightening on the newborn before she releases him. Glenn gathers his son into his arms, “Okay, who wants him?" 

A chorus of "Me!” echoes throughout the room, startling the infant awake. He lets out a squeal of protest over his dreams being interrupted. 

“Oh, sorry buddy. We didn’t mean to wake you. Your aunties just can’t wait to hold you and love on you,” He places kisses on his son’s head, “What’s that? You want your Uncle Daryl to hold you?” He moves over and places the baby in Daryl’s arms. 

“Man, come on, I’m eating.” Daryl says, but he quickly pulls the baby into his chest and looks down at him, “Hey, ya Lil Hell Raiser. What’s this I hear about you being a good baby? You’re supposed ta keep mom and dad up all night, screaming and what not." 

Glenn smiles, and then moves back around the table and sits next to Maggie. He goes to keep eating his breakfast, but notices Maggie hasn’t touch hers. 

She’s watching Daryl’s every move. When he hands the baby off to Tara, who is sitting next to him, Glenn feels her shift, almost as if she is ready to leap up and grab her baby. He tries to make eye contact with her, but her eyes are locked on the baby in Tara’s arms. 

"Babe, eat.” He strokes her arm, encouraging her to look at him. Instead she continues to stare at their child. 

“Okay.” Yet she still makes no move to eat. Glenn glances at Rick, who shrugs at him. The baby is passed again, this time to Eugene who cradles him awkwardly. Glenn can feel the tension radiating off Maggie’s body. It’s as if she is a spring, ready to jump up at any second. Eugene quickly passes the baby off to Carol, who gathers the child in her arms. She looks at Maggie, who sits directly across from her. 

“Relax, Mama. He’s okay. He’s safe.” Carol holds the baby snugly against her chest. He lets out a little sigh, and Glenn can see his eyelids flutter closed. Beside him, he can still feel the tension radiating off of his wife. 

“Maggie, hey, look at me.” He encourages. She quickly glances at him, then goes back to looking at the baby. 

“Babe. He’s okay. He couldn’t be safer than he is right now." 

"I know.”

“Then eat. You need to eat.” She glances at him once more, and then takes a bite of eggs, her gaze still lingering on their sleeping baby. 

After breakfast, Maggie takes the baby into the living room to feed him, while Glenn helps to gather the breakfast dishes. He hands them to Michonne, who is washing, then leans against the counter. Carol hands him a rag, “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean. Make yourself useful."

He shoots her a grin and begins to dry the dishes Michonne hands him. Carol puts them away. 

"So, uh, is that normal?” He asks. Michonne and Carol look at him. 

“I mean, how Maggie was acting at the table. I don’t get it." 

Carol gives him a smile, "She’s just a little overprotective right now.”

“Yeah, but it’s us. We’re a family. She knows you guys would never hurt him.” Glenn hands Carol another dry dish. 

“Doesn’t matter. That’s her first baby. That little boy was inside of her less than 24 hours ago, and now he is in the outside world. She’s acting like any first time mom would." 

Michonne chimes in, "She’s going to be in Mama Bear mode for a while, and no amount of talking or convincing will change it. Her hormones are all over the place and he’s her firstborn. Doesn’t matter who is holding him, if he’s not in her arms, she’s going to be worried. It’s normal. She’s just being a good mom." 

"And here I thought her hormones would finally be back to normal." 

Both Carol and Michonne let out a snort, "Yeah right. You have at least another 6 weeks of emotions and mood swings.” Michonne flicks some water and soap on him, “Better suck it up, buttercup.”

He groans, which makes both women laugh.

“Glenn.” He hears Maggie call, “Can you go upstairs and get the baby a new outfit, he just spit up all over this one." 

"Sure." 

He hands the towel back to Carol and starts to walk out of the kitchen. 

"Still haven’t come up with a name yet?” He looks back at Michonne. 

“We’ve thought of something, just not sure about it yet." 

"Better let us know soon, otherwise Lil’ Hell Raiser is going to stick." 

He laughs and jogs up the stairs to their room. It’s still a mess from yesterday, with a bunch of dirty sheets and towels piled in the corner. He makes a mental note to come back up and grab those, opens the drawer containing all of the baby’s clothes. He grabs a little onesie with dinosaurs on it. He debates about grabbing him a pair of pants too, but its already hot and humid out, so he thinks better of it. He goes back down to the living room. 

Maggie has the baby in just a diaper, his bare skin pressed against hers. His little brow is furrowed as he eats, making him look like a little old man. Glenn starts laughing. Maggie and Tara and Rick look up at him.

"Sorry, it’s just, he looks like my Halbi" 

"You’re what?” Tara asks him. 

“My grandfather. We called him halbi, because when my oldest sister was little, she couldn’t pronounce ‘halabuji’, so she called him halbi and the baby just looks like a little old man right now. Just like my halbi." 

"Well, he definitely favors your side of the family.” Maggie says, running her fingers through the baby’s dark hair. Glenn hands her the onesie and then sits down next to her. He runs his finger up and down the baby’s tiny thigh. His son tries to look at him, but he struggles to focus. He eventually gives up and focuses on eating his breakfast. His family begins to filter into the living room, each settling around, taking a few moments to spend time together before starting the day. Even Carl drags his butt in and flops down face first on the couch. Rick begins to talk, discussing the schedule for the day and who needs to go where. 

The baby finishes eating, and Glenn moves to take him. He sees Maggie tense for a moment, then presses a kiss to her cheek and whispers in her ear, “It’s okay, babe." 

She smiles and hands the baby to Glenn, who transfers him to his shoulder and begins to burp him. After the baby burps, Glenn dresses him in his onesie and then cradles him to his chest. 

"Alright, anyone have anything to add before we start the day?” Rick asks, looking around the room. Most people shake their heads. Maggie looks to Glenn. He knows what she is asking. He nods his head. 

“We do.” Everyone turns to look at him and Maggie. 

“We were up most of the night with this little one, and we finally decided on a name for him. We wanted him to have a piece of each of us, of each of our families.” She looks up at Glenn. 

He smiles and clears his throat; “We want to officially introduce you all to Hershel Min-Yeong Rhee." 

His family starts to chatter excitedly. Rick smiles at him, and gives them both a nod. 

"Hershel would be so proud of both of you” Carol says. Everyone nods in agreement. 

“What’s his middle name mean?” Carl asks. Everyone gets silent. 

“We wanted him to have a part of my heritage,” Glenn begins, looking at Hershel, who is fast asleep in his arms, “He’s actually the first Rhee to be born in America. My sisters and I were all born in South Korea, and we moved here when I was maybe 5 or 6. Min-Yeong is my real name. Glenn is my American name, and was given to me once we had settled in Michigan. But my parents always called me Min-Yeong. They never called us by our American names, because they didn’t want us to lose our culture and our heritage. After high school, I had a falling out with my father. He was disappointed about the man I had become. The last thing he said to me was that I was a disgrace to the Rhee name. I took off that night and I never looked back. I kept in touch with my mother and my sisters, but my dad just cut me out of his life. And I guess I just cut my heritage out of my life in retaliation. That’s one of my biggest regrets. I’m ashamed that I turned my back on who I am, and I know my family would be too. I’ll never know what happened to my parents and my sisters, but I don’t want my son to grow up without knowing his heritage."

He continues to stare at his son, and begins to smile. "Min-Yeong means one who is clever, smart, quick and brave. All things that we want him to grow up to be." 

"I think it’s a beautiful name.” Michonne says. His family all agree with her. They begin to chatter among themselves.

Maggie curls up into his side and rubs her finger over Hershel’s cheek. He wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer. His son’s lip twitches as he dreams. He regrets never reaching out to his father after they became estranged. He looks down at his son, and silently promises him that he will always be there for him.


	7. Winter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the thought of gleggie with all boys. I'm still posting drabbles from my tumblr. If you've requested something, I have gotten it and it is on my list to do :) please review and request!

For the first time in 5 years, Maggie woke up to silence. It startled her, causing her to shoot out of bed. A quick glance into the crib across from her bed showed her it was empty. She turned around and noticed her husband was absent from bed. This confused her, because Glenn always waited for her to wake up. Every morning he would gently kiss her awake and then they would cuddle (sometimes they would get a quickie in, if they woke early enough) and wait for their boys to come racing into their room. Then they would head downstairs as a family to start their day.

She grabs one of Glenn’s hoodies and throws it on before venturing into the hallway. She stuck her head into the boy’s bedroom (the room used to be carl’s before he moved up into the finished attic) and saw both beds were unmade and empty. She heads downstairs into the kitchen and finds her family eating breakfast, but her husband and children are absent.

“Morning.” She is greeted with a round of good mornings from everyone. As she takes a seat, she notices her youngest son cradled in his namesake’s arms. 

At just 6 weeks old, little Ricky was probably the sweetest thing she had ever met. He was so content to just be held and loved on. It didn’t matter who held him. He would squeal and squeak with happiness whenever someone picked him up and loved on him. 

She takes her youngest from Rick’s arms and takes a seat at the table. As she begins to nurse him, she asks, “Where are the boys and Glenn at?“ 

As she spoke, the front door opened and the sound of little feet start charging towards her. She braces for impact. Two little bodies latch on to her and both begin to talk over the other.

"Mama! Mama! It’s the first snow! Daddy took us out to play in it before breakfast”

“Mama, I made a snow angel, all by myself!" 

She looks down at both her boys. Almost identical to each other, save for their eye color and height difference, her children are miniature versions of her husband.

5-Year-old Hershel, her first and only child to inherit her eye color, talks a mile a minute about the first snow outside and how it’s almost time for christmas. Her oldest boy is the perfect mix of her and Glenn. He is a loving, kind big brother and he has a fierce protectiveness over his little brothers. He takes his role as big brother seriously, and watches over his siblings and protects them. He dubbed himself as "Daddy’s Helper” and often accompanies Glenn on his perimeter checks and watch shifts. 

Meanwhile, her middle son gabs away about his snow angel. While 4-year-old Benjamin (named after Glenn’s father) looks like a clone of his father, his personality takes after her. Independent, stubborn and (although she begrudgingly admits it comes from her) bossy. He refuses all types of help. His first sentence of “No I do it!” has become a running joke in their family, with everyone often quoting it whenever they are doing something. Just last week they all got a laugh when Daryl went to go on a hunt. When Abe offered to go with him, all he said was “No I do it!” before walking out the door.

“Boys, settle down. Mama can’t hear you when you’re both talking over each other.” Glenn says. He grabs a boy in each arm and sits them in their seats. He quickly removes their winter coats and his own, tosses them by the door and then takes a seat next to her. 

“Hi” He leans over and kisses her cheek, careful not to disturb the baby in her arms. 

“Hi.” She says, “You didn’t wake me this morning.”

“Nah, I figured you could use your sleep after being up all night with this one.” He runs his hand over the baby’s hair. 

“I took the boys out to let them run off some of their energy so they wouldn’t disturb you. And Ricky was already up, so I just brought him downstairs." 

She smiles, then leans over and places a kiss on his lips.

"I love you.”

“Ewww! Mama, that’s gross.” A little voice to her left says.

“Oh yeah, Benny. Is it gross when I do this?” She leans down and places kisses all over Benjamin’s face. He giggles and pushes her away.

“Mama, stop!" 

"Only if you have a kiss for me.” Her little boy giggles and then kneels up to give her a kiss. 

After breakfast, she looks at the schedule on the door to see what her duties are for the day. Most days she tends to the green house, does inventory of the weapons and then spends the afternoon with the children. Three times a week her, Michonne and Carol give a weapons lesson to the children, teaching them how to respect weapons and do basic things like hold a knife. 

She smiles as she skims the schedule. Ever since Hershel learned to read, Michonne has been placing him on the schedule too. His name is always right under Glenn’s and his tasks involve things like “perimeter check with Daddy”, “Green House with Mommy” and even on occasion, “Arrow Making with Uncle Daryl”. 

Today, Glenn is going out on a run with Daryl, Rick, Michonne and Rosita, so she will have all three boys. She likes having them with her. She puts them to work pulling weeds and watering the garden. Her daddy had her out in the fields when she was their age. She wants her boys to learn the value of a hard day’s work. 

After their family’s morning meeting, Glenn gets ready to head out. He scoops his boys up in his arms, “You two behave for mommy. Do as you’re told. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you.” He places kisses on both their faces, then swings them over his shoulders. He lets them slide down his back until he is just holding on to their ankles. They laugh hysterically and she smiles at their joy. After Glenn places them safely on the ground, he gives her and the baby a goodbye kiss. 

She gives him one last kiss, “You got this. You always do.”

He pecks her lips again, “Always." 

The day passes quickly. She takes her boys out to the green house, where they collect the vegetables and water the plants. Benny somehow manages to get dirt all over himself, while Hershel meticulously inspects each and every vegetable. Ricky, meanwhile, snoozes in the wrap she has him in, strapped to her chest. After that, they drop the veggies off to Olivia then head back to the house to meet Eugene. He drops off all the ammo he has made and leaves her to sort through it all. Hershel gathers the ammo in groups of 5 for her with his newly learned counting skills, and she tallies and packages the ammo. Benny, meanwhile, plays with his blocks, creating tall towers and then destroying them. After lunch, Carol takes the older boys and Judith into the garage for their weapons lesson. Maggie and Tara spend the afternoon together with baby Ricky, trying to get him to smile and giggle. 

"God, all your kids look like Glenn.” Tara says as she coos at the baby.

“I know. I swear if I didn’t birth them myself, I would question if they were actually mine.” She laughs. 

“You popping out any more?" 

"Hell no.” They both start laughing.

“Isn’t that what you said after Benny was born?" 

"Yup. I also said that when Hershel was born too. You can see how well that works out.” Maggie laughs. Ricky looks up at his mother and smiles. 

“Look! He’s smiling!" 

At dinner, Benny earns a time out for throwing his food, which turns into an hour-long temper tantrum that causes her family to quickly scatter. Eventually, it’s Hershel who manages to calm his brother down and convince him to take his punishment. Benny sits through his time out, and then Maggie takes him into the living room and makes him apologize to his family for his behavior. 

After that, Maggie feeds the baby and then puts him to bed in his crib. She shoves the baby monitor into her hoodie pocket and drags both boys into the bathroom for their bath. She smiles as they splash around in the water. 

"Mama, look. My fingers are all wrinkly.” Hershel says as he shoves his hands in her face. She grabs them and pretends to nibble on them. Hershel shrieks, “No! You’re not a shark!”

“I’m the mama shark, and I’m hungry!” She jokes. Her boys shriek with laughter as she pretends to grab them. 

When their bath is finished, she dries them off and puts them in their pajamas. 

“Mama, can we sleep in the big bed? Just until daddy gets home?” Her and Glenn rarely let the boys sleep in their bed. They usually have strict rules about it, wanting the boys to be comfortable in their own bedroom. But it’s awfully cold tonight, and she hates the thought of falling asleep without Glenn by her side, so she relents. Hershel grabs his elephant and Benny grabs his duck and then they each grab one of her hands.

“You have to be quiet, the baby is sleeping, okay?” Her boys nod, and then tip toe into her room. She tucks them in to Glenn’s side of the bed, places a kiss on each other foreheads and tucks them in. She leaves the door open a crack and then heads downstairs. She collapses on the couch next to Carol and Tara. 

“I thought that after Benny, a 3rd baby wouldn’t make that much difference. I was so wrong. I’ve never been this tired before." 

"Well, make Glenn pull out next time.” She grabs the pillow she is leaning on and smacks Tara in the face with it.

“Shut up.” She laughs. Her family all make small talk with one another, catching up on their day. After an hour, headlights pull up. 

“They’re home” She straightens up and turns to face the door, but her smile fades when they walk inside. Rick, Michonne, Rosita, Daryl and Glenn are all covered in blood. Their faces are morbid. She rushes to Glenn. 

“What happened? Are you okay?” She grabs his face in her hands and begins to inspect him. 

“We’re okay. We got overrun. We barely made it back.” She grabs his hand. He strokes her cheek and lets out a sigh. There are tears in his eyes. 

“What happened?" 

Rick sits down at the table and speaks, "We found a man. We talked to him for a bit, and he seemed okay, so we asked him to come back with us. He told us he had to get his family. That he couldn’t leave without them. Asked us to come with him. We ended up at this old log cabin. When we went inside he shut the door behind us and locked it. His family was there, but they were all walkers. He had them chained up. There were bones everywhere. He got his hands on Rosita and tried to feed her to his wife. We killed the walkers and he started screaming about how we murdered his family. When we finally got outside, there was a huge herd. We had to fight our way through it. We eventually got to the car and were able to escape. But we almost didn’t make it." 

She looks up at her husband. Glenn is staring at the ground, "His son was there too. Couldn’t have been older than Hershel."

She grabs her husband’s hand and leads him upstairs to the bathroom. She helps him remove his soiled clothes and guides him into the shower. She joins him. She begins to scrub the blood from his skin.

"All I can think of is, that could be me…if I lost you and the boys. That man, he wasn’t evil or, or bad. He was just broken. He lost everything and it drove him insane. That could be me.” He pulls her close to him and buries his face in her neck. The water beats down on them.

“Hey, I’m right here. The boys are right here, asleep in our bed. We’re not going anywhere.” She grabs his chin.

“I’m right here.” He nods, then grabs her head in his hands and begins to kiss her.

“Isn’t Ricky six weeks old?” He murmurs against her lips. She nods and wraps her arms around his neck.

“Denise said we had to wait 6 weeks.” He pulls away and looks at her, question in his eyes.

“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. He grins, then backs her up against the shower wall and deepens their kiss. 

After they finish, they sneak out of the bathroom. Rosita sits on the floor of the hallway, towel flung over her shoulder. 

“About time.” She says as she pushes past them into the bathroom. 

In their bedroom, the quietly change into pajamas. 

“Help me move the boys back to their room.” She whispers as she bends down to lift Benny off the bed.

“No,” Glenn rubs his hand on her back, “Let them stay, just for tonight. I know we agreed not to let them sleep here, but please. Just tonight.”

She nods. Glenn gives a sigh of relief and quietly walks over to the crib. He places a kiss on Ricky’s head and slips into bed behind Benny. She quickly checks on the baby as well, and then gets into bed. She wraps her arm around Hershel and gives him and Benny a kiss. Hershel peeks one eye open.

“Daddy?”

“I’m home, buddy. Go back to sleep." 

As Hershel falls back to sleep, Glenn gathers both boys and her in his arms. She reaches over and begins to stroke his hair. She smiles. In sleep, her sons are exact replicas of their father. She observes their features in the moonlight, waiting for sleep to take over her too. 

Snow begins to fall heavily as her four boys, her wonderful, wonderful boys, escape into their dreams. She’s so grateful to have them in her life. She drifts off to sleep, taking comfort in her boys being so close to her. She knows they’ll be crazy tomorrow, bouncing off the walls because of all the snow. So for now, she enjoys the peace and quiet that their slumber brings.


	9. Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on all the requests, if you requested something, i will get to it!

The early morning sun shone through the curtains, illuminating the room. Maggie slowly opened her eyes and rolled onto her side. On the wall across from her bed, the calendar that was hand made by Olivia was tacked to wall. She didn’t have to look at it though; she already knew what day it was. She has been in a permanent bad mood for over a week in anticipation of today. Her mood swings so intense that everyone has been avoiding her, letting poor Glenn take the blunt of her emotions.

Today was October 8th, also known as her 25th birthday. 

She can’t believe it’s already her 25th. Last year, her 24th was spent at the prison. They didn’t do much, what with the threat of the Governor looming over them, but everyone in her group made it a point to spend some time with her that day and to wish her a happy birthday. That night, her dad and Beth had arranged a little party for her, and everyone spent the night laughing and dancing. 

The year before that, she had turned 23 the day after the farm had gotten overrun. No one remembered her birthday that year, understandably. Her daddy had brought it up a week later in passing, and Beth and daddy sang her happy birthday and allowed her to have first pick of the canned foods.

Maggie continued to stare at the calendar. She had put a small star in the corner of today’s box, just as a reminder of what is and what used to be. She thinks back to her 22nd birthday, spent bar hopping with her college friends. She had gotten so drunk that she had passed out on the sidewalk and had to be carried home by her roommate’s boyfriend. It’s interesting how much can change in just a few years. All of her college friends are probably dead, she thinks. 

She’s so deep in thought that she doesn’t notice Glenn had awoken, until she feels him wrap his arms around her and bury his face into her neck. He pulls her close to his chest and his hand drifts down to the small bump that has just become noticeable. For the longest time, her stomach had remained flat, and she often questioned whether or not she was truly pregnant, until one morning she woke up and looked down, and was shocked to see that her stomach had grown overnight. When she had walked down the stairs that morning, all the women in her family had freaked out and ran over to touch and talk to her now visible baby bump. 

“Babe, it’s still early. Go back to sleep.” Glenn mumbles to her, placing a kiss on her shoulder. He falls back to sleep instantly. She envies how quickly he is able to fall asleep. The idea of more sleep sounds great, but the little one in her stomach is doing it’s morning exercises, it seems, and she knows she won’t be able to fall asleep with her baby doing flips and acrobatics. She slips from Glenn’s embrace and pulls one of his hoodies on over her pajama top. She places on kiss on Glenn’s forehead and pulls the blanket up to his shoulders and then heads out the room. 

Many of the doors to her family’s bedrooms are still shut, so she walks through the hall and down the stairs as quietly as she can so she doesn’t wake them up. When she turns to go into the kitchen, she’s a bit surprised to see Carol is there. She can tell that Carol is instantly trying to gauge her mood. 

“Morning.” Maggie attempts to be cheerful. 

“Good morning, mama. I swear, every time I see you, that belly is a little bit bigger.“ 

Maggie smiles and wraps her arms around her belly, "What are you doing here? I thought you stayed at Tobin’s." 

"I do, but he doesn’t have tea.” She lifts up her mug, as if to show her that she was drinking tea, “Would you like me to make you some?”

Maggie nods and takes a seat on the barstool at the island. 

“What are you doing up so early?” Carol asks as she slides a mug of hot tea towards her.

“Couldn’t sleep. This little one decided that dawn was a good time to practice his karate. It feels like there’s a bunch of butterflies flappin’ around in there.”

Carol smiles, “Sophia used to do that all the time to me. It was as if she knew when I wanted to rest, and that’s when she started acting up." 

Maggie smiles at Carol. Ever since the two had been taken hostage by the Saviors, she has felt much closer to the older woman. Carol is one of the first people she goes to when she wants to talk about her pregnancy. 

As Carol continues to talk about her pregnancy with Sophia, Maggie can’t help but glance at the calendar. Again, todays date seems to glare out at her, and she feels sadness wash over her. Her permanent bad mood has stemmed from the fact that her dad and sister aren’t with her to celebrate her birthday. She doesn’t expect any of the group to remember, but she knew that if Beth or Daddy were here, they would be making a huge fuss over her today. 

Carol stops talking as she notices Maggie’s face, "What’s wrong?" 

"Nothing. Just feeling a little nauseous, I guess." 

Carol stares at her for a bit, then diverts her attention to Rick, who has just walked into the kitchen with Michonne trailing behind him. 

He places a hand on her shoulder and gives it a gently squeeze as he passes her, then grabs an apple from the stand on the counter. She can’t stop the tears from welling up in her eyes, and she quickly stands up and darts out of the kitchen. On her way out she hears Rick ask Carol what’s wrong with her. 

She sits down on the front porch and tries to get her emotions under control. Even with a house full of people, she feels terribly alone and she misses her dad and sister more than anything. She breaks down in tears. She can’t help it. After a few minutes of crying into her hands, she notices a shadow fall over her. She looks up to see Daryl standing over her and she quickly wipes her face. 

"Get dressed.” He says to her.

When she questions him, he tells her that him and Abraham are going on a run, and they need her to come with them. 

She hesitates. Glenn is really finicky about her leaving Alexandria. But he’s asleep right now, and she could really go for some time outside these walls. She quickly runs back to her room, quietly changes clothes and then returns to the front porch to wait for the guys. She’s clipping her holster to her leg when Rick and Michonne approach her.

“Going out with Daryl and Abraham?” Rick asks her. His voice is cautious, as if he is expecting her to snap at him. He probably is, she realizes. 

“Yeah, it’s just a basic supply run. We’ll be okay. Try to not let Glenn panic too much." 

"He’ll be alright.” Michonne says, “You just be careful out there. Keep those boys in line." 

Maggie smiles and straightens out her jacket, "You know I will." 

Hours later, Maggie, Daryl and Abraham are clearing out the baby section of a local store. Maggie is holding onto a stuffed elephant that she found. 

Elephants were Beth’s favorite animals and she wanted her baby to have a piece of his aunt. As she looks down at the stuffed animal, she once again feels tears welling up in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and blinks them away. Beth isn’t here anymore. She knows she needs to move on, but she can’t help but remember how every year on this day, her sister would get her something elephant related. 

"Maggie.”

She quickly looks up to see Abe and Daryl staring at her. She gives them a small smile, knowing she was caught. 

“I’m okay, just thinking.” She shoves the elephant into her bag, “Come on, we can grab some clothes for Judith while we’re here." 

As she walks towards the baby girl section, she knows the guys are having a silent conversation about her. 

The car ride back to Alexandria is silent. The had spent the day going from store to store and house to house, picking up a bunch of supplies ranging from baby diapers to toothpaste to clothes and other essentials needed for daily life. Daryl allowed her to sit in the front seat, as the back seat was crammed full of baby supplies. During the trip back, Maggie had pulled the stuffed elephant out and was holding onto it tightly in her lap. The sun was just beginning to set.

"Glenn’s going to be so mad that I left Alexandria.” She says.

Abraham glances at her from behind the wheel, “He’ll get over it. You were with us. He knows we would never let anything happen to you." 

"I can take care of myself.” She quickly snaps. He sees Abraham raise his eyebrows and glance into the rear view mirror at Daryl. 

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I know I’ve been such a bitch this week. To all of you.”

“Yeah, mind telling us what that’s about?” Abraham stares at the road, and she appreciates that he doesn’t look at her. She glances into the rear view mirror and sees Daryl staring out the window, but she knows he is listening. She looks down at the elephant in her hands.

“It’s just, today is my birthday. And it’s my first birthday since Daddy and Beth died. I guess it just never really sunk in that I’ll never see them again until I realized that I was alive to live another year, but they aren’t. My baby will never know his grandpa and his aunt." 

Daryl and Abraham both remained silent, but Abraham reached out and placed his hand on her forearm and gave it a squeeze. That gesture spoke volumes to her. 

Abraham pulled the car through the gates and up to the front of their house. The sun had set, but all the windows to the house were dark. 

"Leave the stuff. We can unpack it tomorrow.” Daryl says as he places his hand on her lower back and guides her to the door. She is still holding onto the elephant when she walks through the front door. The house is dark.   
Suddenly, the lights flip on. 

“Surprise!!” She quickly takes a step back and bumps into Abraham. There, scattered through out the living room and kitchen, stands her group, her family. There is a big banner stretched across the kitchen that reads ‘Happy Birthday Maggie!’ and there are birthday decorations throughout the house. There were even balloons. She hugs the elephant to her chest as she stands there, lost for words. She feels tears running down her face. 

Glenn approaches her and wraps his arms around her. She falls into his embrace.

“Happy Birthday, sweetheart. You didn’t think we forgot about you, did you?”

She pulls away and looks into his eyes, “You’re not mad that I went out?”

“No, I asked them to take you out that way we could decorate and cook dinner without you knowing anything. Every place you went, we had cleared yesterday, so we knew it would be safe. I know you’ve been really upset lately, and I’m guessing that it has to do with your father and sister, right?”

She nods. He knows her so well. 

“I know it hurts, but you’re with family." 

She looks around the room. Indeed, it is filled with those she loves most.   
"I’m so sorry I’ve been in such a bad mood. I took it out on all of you, and I shouldn’t have.”

“Well, you have a human inside of you, sucking up all your energy, so I guess we can forgive you.” Tara jokes as she walks up and shoves Glenn out of the way, “Get out of here, Glenn. You get to hug her all the time." 

Tara wraps her in a hug. Everyone else moves forward and before she knows it, she is in the center of the largest group hug she was ever a part of. She can’t help but smile.

"I know I speak for everyone when I saw this. We all love you Maggie.” Rick speaks up. 

“I love you all too." 

"Well, this is a fan-fucking-tastic group hug, but can we please eat? Daryl said Carol was cooking up the venison he shot yesterday and I could really go for some steak." 

Maggie laughs as Abraham is the first to break the hug. Everyone in her family walks to the table in the kitchen and begins to sit down. Maggie starts to head over herself, when Glenn grabs her hand and pulls her out onto the front porch. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box, wrapped in paper. 

"Happy Birthday, beautiful." 

She smiles and unwraps it. Inside is a golden locket. She smiles as Glenn and then opens the locket. She gasps. Inside, on one side, is a small picture of her and Glenn that they had taken shortly after they found out they were expecting. They were sitting on the couch, holding up the sonogram of their baby. Glenn was looking at her with so much love in his eyes. 

On the other side, was a group photo of their family. Her family. Rick and Michonne were in the center, with Carl holding Judith in-between them. Enid stood next to him, her hand resting on his arm. Carol, Rosita and Sasha stood to their left, with Tara standing behind them, giving Carol bunny ears. Abraham, Aaron and Eugene stood behind them, while Daryl sat on the steps. 

They were all smiling and laughing. 

"How did you do this?” She looked up at Glenn.

He smiled and mumbled something about a back-up generator and breaking into a Staples Store, “I didn’t know if it would work, but it did." 

He took the necklace out of the box and stood behind her. She lifted her hair to the side as he clasped the necklace around her neck. He placed a gentle kiss to the nape of her neck. 

"Beautiful." 

She turned around and placed a kiss to his lips. 

"Thank you, Glenn. I love it. I love you.”

She glances into the window and sees her family sitting at the table. She can hear them laughing and joking from out here. She then glances up at her husband. 

Her family might be broken. Her family is definitely missing people. But she loves these people, loves her family, more than she explain. And she knows that they love her and that they already love her baby. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.

She can feel the little one kicking her from inside and she places Glenn’s hand on her stomach. She watches his face change into a surprised look.

“I felt that one!” He exclaims. The smile that grows on his face makes her wonder if it is going to split into two. 

“Come on, Carol made a cake out of beets and acorns.” Glenn takes her hand, places a kiss on it, and then pulls her inside so that they can join the rest of their family. 

Yes, her family may be missing pieces, but they were still the best family she could have asked for.


	10. Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please forgive me for going so slow, I've been so caught up in school!

She was in shock as she stared at the tiny being that lay on her chest. She had just had a baby. A real baby.

His little face was squished and red and his little hands were wrinkled. She gently touched his tiny hand, and his impossibly small fingers grabbed her finger tightly. She looked at each little fingernail, already so long. She traced her finger up his arm and stroked his cheek. She smiled when he wrinkled his nose in response to her touching it. His hair was pitch black and already had some wave to it.

His little eyes were shut as he rooted around on her chest. She gently cupped the back of his neck and guided him to his first meal. As he ate, she couldn’t help the sense of satisfaction that took over her. She knew what hunger was. The months they had spent on the road had forced that horrid feeling on them. They had gone days with nothing to eat but a handful of grapes or a squirrel split between the 14 of them, if they were lucky.

But as she looks at her son, with his pudgy belly and his chubby little arms, she knows he is healthy. For 9 months, she was able to provide him with nutrition. She smiles as he nurses, silently promising him that she will never allow him to know the feeling of starvation. 

She sees Glenn out of the corner of her eye. He’s watching from beside her on the bed. She smiles up at him. 

He has tears in his eyes as he watches his wife and son.

“You can touch him.” She whispers.

He shakes his head, “He’s so small. I can’t.“ 

"Glenn, he’s your son." 

He reaches out a shaky hand and traces his finger down the child’s cheek. His hand is so large compared to their child’s face. 

"He’s so soft.”

He gently cups the back of his son’s head. The baby looks at his father while he nurses. 

“He’s looking at me.”

“He knows who his daddy is.” She wraps her arms tighter around her child and rests her head on the pillows. She’s never felt more relaxed than she does right now, with her husband beside her and her child on her chest, nursing. 

She can feel her eyes start to close. 26 hours of labor has completely exhausted her, but the peace that she feels right in this moment is something she will treasure for the rest of her life.

“Glenn, I can’t stay awake.”

“It’s alright beautiful. Sleep” He presses a kiss to her forehead. 

“I don’t want the baby to fall.” She tightens her grip on the infant.

“It’s alright. I’ve got him. He won’t fall. I’ve got you both.” He pulls her into his side and wraps his arm around her and their child. He kisses her cheek.

“Sleep now, beautiful." 

She falls asleep to the sound of his voice, whispering sweet nothings to his son.


	11. Chapter 11

“Momma.” 

“Momma!”

Maggie cracked one eye open, feeling a tiny finger poking her cheek. She smiles when she sees 4-year-old Ricky standing at her bedside. The grey light of early dawn illuminates his tiny face, which has a wide grin spread across it. 

Ricky grins when he sees her eyes open and begins to bounce in spot.

“Momma!”

“Hi baby!” 

Ricky grins and begins to babble to her. Her baby boy suffers from a speech impediment, making his words hard to understand. Her poor baby boy was nonverbal until he was 3 years old. Now, Denise works with him everyday, helping him to learn to annunciate his words and form his speech. 

She knows it frustrates him, the fact that no one in their family can understand him except for a few words. He often throws temper tantrums because of his frustration of not being able to be understood. 

Ricky continues to babble to her as she reaches over and pulls him into bed. She sets him in between her and Glenn. 

“Daddy!” 

“Shhhh,” Maggie brushes his hair out of his eyes, “Daddy’s sleeping, baby boy.” 

Ricky smiles at her and leans his head down onto her belly, which is round with the early stages of pregnancy. Her whole family ragged on her and Glenn for a week when they announced their 4th pregnancy to them. Jokes were made about litters of pups and repopulating the world by themselves, to which they just rolled their eyes. 

She wasn’t shocked to learn from Dr. Carson that she was going to have another boy. 

Ricky places his tiny hand on her belly. She isn’t sure how much he understands, but he seems to grasp the concept that his baby brother is in momma’s belly. 

“You love your baby brother, don't you?” She asks while stroking his hair. He nods and rubs his hand over her belly. 

He begins to babble again.

“Say bro-ther.” She says.

Ricky looks at her and tries to repeat the word. 

“Good job buddy!” Glenn’s hand reaches out and he strokes his son’s cheek. Glenn looks over at her and smiles. She leans over and kisses his lips, wishing him a good morning. 

Ricky squeals with excitement, “Momma, daddy!”

“Guess we don’t get to sleep in today.” Glenn sighs as he rubs a hand over his face. Maggie smiles at her husband.

“Go back to sleep, I’ll take him downstairs.” She throws on an old hoodie and sets Ricky on his feet. 

“Come on baby boy.” He grabs her hand and she leads him out of the bedroom. 

“Go downstairs. Momma will be right there.” She gently nudges him towards the stairs. Once Ricky is safely at the bottom, she gently creeps into her son’s bedroom. 

8-year-old Ben is asleep in his bed, dead to the world. Sprawled on his back, his tiny body somehow takes up all the space in the bed. Starfishing, as Glenn called it. Glenn says that she sleeps the same way. She presses a kiss to his forehead and then moves over to Hershel. 

Her oldest child turns 10 years old today. He lay curled on his side, his old, ragged stuffed elephant tucked safely in his arms. He denies that he sleeps with it, but every morning she peeks in to see him cuddling the old thing. 

She brushes his hair back and kisses his head, “Happy Birthday, baby boy.” 

She gently closes the door to their room and presses her hands to her belly. She can’t believe Hershel is already 10. 

In Alexandria, a child may venture beyond the gates for the first time at 10 years old. Today, Hershel is being taken beyond the gates for the very first time. 

It makes her stomach turn. She knows he will be safe. Glenn, Rick, Daryl, Tara, Abraham and Michonne will be with him to protect him, but she still can’t fathom the thought of her sweet baby boy being out there. 

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by a loud crash from downstairs and a tiny voice echoing, “Oops, momma, oops!!” 

Later that day, she stands by the gate. Ben and Ricky are at their schooling lessons, while Hershel stands nervously in front of her. He fiddles with the knife at his belt. Glenn, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Tara and Abraham stand just outside the open gate, waiting for Hershel to join them.

“You listen to them while you are out there. Do everything they say!” Maggie tells her child. 

“I know Ma, I will.” 

She places a baseball cap on his head. 

“And don't you dare wander off! Keep them in site at all times! And stay within your father’s site. And if you see a walker, don’t-”

“Christ Maggie, you’re smothering the kid. He’ll be fine.” She pulls Hershel into a hug and flips Abraham the bird behind her son’s back. Abe bursts out laughing.

She pulls away from the hug and frames Hershel’s face in her hands. 

“I love you so much, little goose.” She presses a kiss to his forehead. Hershel kisses her cheek.

“I love you too, Mama. I’ll find you something neat while I’m out there.” 

She can feel tears burning her eyes.

“Oh Ma, don't cry!” He pulls her into a hug. She waves him off.

“I’m not, I’m not. It's the baby. Go. Get out of here. Be safe.” She presses one more kiss to his forehead. 

Hershel stands at the open gate. She watches as he takes a deep breath and then steps outside the gate for the first time in his life. 

“Come on, pancakes, lets get a move on. We are burning precious daylight.” 

She watches as they walk down the road. The gate to Alexandria begins to shut. 

“Hey Uncle Abe, now that I’m 10 and I’m joining you guys on runs, can you tell me how in the world you came up with Pancakes for my nickname?” 

She laughs as she watches Abe pull her son in a playful headlock. 

“I’ll tell ya when you’re older son.” 

Hours later, she’s standing in the kitchen, making an after school snack for Ricky and Ben. 

“But it’s not fair!” Ben argues with her. 

“It is fair,” She sets the apple slices in front of Ricky and Ben, “When you’re 10, Daddy will take you outside the gates too.”

He shoves an apple slice in his mouth and mumbles, “Judith got to go out before she was 10.” 

“Those were different times,” She snaps, “and she was just a baby then. We had nowhere to go, had no choice but to have her on the road. Now if I hear one more word about this, you’re gonna have muck duty for the rest of the week.” 

Ben shuts his mouth, the threat of cleaning up horse poop silencing any argument he had. 

After the boys eat their snack, she sits with them at the table and helps them with their homework. Ben has a quiz on edible plants Friday, so she takes the time to make flashcards with him. Ricky circles pictures of cartoon drawings that demonstrate properly holding a knife. 

Carol comes over to help her make dinner for their family. She gives Ben and Ricky a kiss (and slyly slips them each a cookie) and then she rubs her hand across Maggie’s belly. 

She sends the boys outside to help Judith set the table with Father Gabriel. As she carries a big bowl of salad out to the table, she sees her husband and son walking towards the house. Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Tara and Abe follow behind. Her heart speeds up when she sees them all covered in blood, but they each sport huge smiles. Judith runs to Hershel and gives her best friend a huge hug. 

Hershel runs up to her, “Ma! You should’ve seen it!! A herd trapped us! They were everywhere! We were surrounded!”

She gasps, her eyes flying to her husband. He grins at her, “It’s true. Hersh was amazing. He didn't hesitate. He jumped right in.” 

Daryl pipes in, “Lil’ hell raiser did great, a true pro.”

“Yeah, it’s like he’s been slaying walkers his whole life.” Michonne says as she ruffles his hair. 

“Son, go take a shower before we eat. Quickly, we have to shower too.” Glenn claps his son on the shoulder. Hershel gives his mom a kiss and then runs inside. 

“How bad was it?” She immediately asks.

“It wasn't as bad as it could’ve been. Maybe a few dozen. We were scavenging at a feed store and they just came out of nowhere. But babe, he didn’t hesitate.” 

Tara comes steps forward, Ricky cuddled in her arms, “Mags, he saved my life today. One snuck up behind me, got the jump on me. It was three times his size but he just went for it. He saw I was in danger and he saved me.” 

“My baby boy did that?” She feels a wave of pride. 

“You should be very proud, Maggie. He’s gonna beat this world.” Rick says to her. 

She smiles. She looks at Hershel as he walks into the house, then to Ben, who stands with Judith, practicing his knife skills and then the Ricky, who shows Uncle Daryl his homework and points out what plants are safe to eat. 

The little one in her belly stirs, and she knows he will be just as smart, brave and tough as his brothers. 

Glenn presses a kiss to her forehead. They may have had to adapt to this world. But this crazy world is the only place her children know. She’s confident that they will beat this world. She just knows it.


End file.
